- Romanian officials Wednesday searched four homes belonging to Andrew Tate, per multiple reports.
- The investigation reportedly is looking into the trafficking of minors and sexual intercourse with a minor.
Romanian law enforcement officials Wednesday searched four homes belonging to Andrew Tate as part of a new investigation into the self-described misogynist influencer and his brother, Tristan, according to multiple reports.
Romania's DIICOT, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, said in a press release — which didn't name the Tate brothers — that the raids were related to forming an organized criminal group, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements, and money laundering.
The searches involved four homes in Bucharest and Ilfov county, according to the agency.
The Tate brothers have been taken to DIICOT headquarters for questioning, the BBC reported. The brothers' lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, told the BBC they likely wouldn't be detained given their restricted travel amid existing legal issues.
Business Insider was unable to immediately reach DIICOT or Vidineac.
Mateea Petrescu, a spokesperson for Andrew Tate, told the Associated Press that "although the charges in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering." Petrescu did not mention the charges related to minors, according to the AP.
As he was being taken to a police car, Reuters reported Tate said, "Anything to put me in jail except to give me a trial. No trial, no judge, this country is crazy."
Tate and his brother, Tristan, were first arrested in 2022 in Romania alongside two Romanian women, the AP reports, and they were formally indicted last year. They have denied previous allegations of human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
In March, the brothers were detained in Romania over a UK arrest warrant on sexual crime charges dating back to between 2012 and 2015.
They rejected all of the allegations.
On Wednesday, Tate made several posts on X in an apparent response to the searches on his homes.
"The Matrix is real," he wrote. "And they have a tried and true playbook. Slander is their number one tool and the process is the punishment. But unfortunately for them, Good always wins in the end."